After London’s sensational hosting of the 2012 Olympic Games, top class athletics returns to the capital’s streets this Sunday with the 2013 Virgin London Marathon, live on BBC One and British Eurosport.

A selection of the world’s greatest long-distance runners and thousands of fundraisers will compete in one of the world’s most famous and colourful races.

BBC Sport will continue to broadcast live coverage of the London Marathon until at least 2018 after signing a new contract with the race organisers.

Announced on the eve of the 2012 event, the new long-term deal gives the BBC exclusive broadcast rights one of the world’s most iconic marathon races across all of its platforms, including TV, radio, internet and mobile.

The BBC has been the broadcast partner for the London Marathon since its inception in 1981 and the event has since grown into one of the most important on the long-distance calendar, as well as raising millions of pounds for charity.